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Blue sky between airlines on Brexit

Tom McEnaney

There was a very curious contrast between the positions adopted last week by IAG’s Willie Walsh and Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary on the question of Brexit. Both of them operate two of the largest airlines in the world. Each has very significant operations in the UK and in the rest of the EU and yet there was a remarkable amount of blue sky between their respective views on how airlines flying in and out of the UK would be affected after March 2019.

Mr O’Leary has for the past 12 months been warning of catastrophe post Brexit, even holding out the possibility of UK flights being grounded en masse. Although he is no longer preaching Armageddon, nor has he been lulled into any sense of security.